Wiles Mensch Corporation – DC (WM) provided surveying, civil engineering, and landscape architecture services in support of the design-build H Street / Benning Road Streetcar project. The goal of the project was to design and install an operable streetcar system along a 2.2 mile stretch of H Street and Benning Road, requiring the construction of three substations along the route to power the project.

WM’s surveying scope of services included research and compilation of land records on file in the Office of the Surveyor for the District of Columbia (DCSO) and DDOT provided electronic survey data. The compiled data was used to provide a property line/right-of-way mosaic. This mosaic was field tied and overlaid onto base topographical mapping from field data collected surveys.

The WM surveying team also provided support for the location of existing utilities and underground facilities to aid engineers in utility relocation design. The surveys were produced in an electronic Microstation (V8) format in compliance with DDOT’s CADD standards.

WM’s civil scope included stormwater management, erosion + sediment control, drainage design, and utility relocation design focused mainly on the project’s maintenance facility. WM also contributed landscape design services in a variety of locations along the line. This included concepts for the car barn, as well as solutions to accommodate bio-retention areas and amenity spaces into the urban site. Additionally, the landscape team developed full streetscape plans for the substation locations and CBTE facilities. The streetscape design included street trees, pavement, and site furnishings coordinated with the existing corridor for seamless integration.

WM assisted with the development of Maintenance of Traffic (MOT) and Detour Plans, and all required coordination and permit approval from DDOT, DDOE, the Public Space Commission, and DC Water for the project.

As a large-scale transportation development, the design presented many challenges typical of an urban infrastructure project. The stormwater design for the phase 1 portion of the site captured 100% of the site’s runoff via a combination of best management practices (BMP’s). These BMP’s included permeable pavement, bioretention rain gardens, and 2 large stormfilter structures. Combined, these BMP’s provided 4,030 cubic feet of quantity control and quality treatment. The stormwater management design for the plazas included 181 linear feet of infiltration trench along Benning Road, and the implementation of 2 additional bioretention rain gardens.

Photos courtesy of: JMT